Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan and Mélanie Laurent Join Ritesh Batra's Long Years Ago

Filming is now underway in Mumbai on Long Years Ago, a new film directed by Ritesh Batra. Deadline reported the start of production and the casting on 26 October 2026.

Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan and French actor Mélanie Laurent are the three named stars. Khan and Balan both have long careers in Hindi-language cinema, the film industry based in Mumbai. Laurent brings the cast an international name from outside that industry.

The film is a comedy-drama set in 1991. Its story follows a family that is forced to find words for things that matter. Comedy and drama sit side by side in that premise, with the humour coming from everyday life and the drama from the things the characters have to say out loud.

The project is produced by Poetic License in partnership with Jio Studios and Good Chaos. Jyoti Deshpande is producing for Jio Studios. Mike Goodridge, Teresa Moneo and Siddharth Mehra are listed as executive producers.

An executive producer is usually the person who oversees the money and the business side of a film, rather than running the day-to-day shoot. Several names in that role often point to a film with more than one company behind it, sharing costs and handling different markets.

Partnerships like this one are common in film. A production company with a creative idea can bring in a studio with money and distribution reach, while a smaller partner can add its own relationships and expertise. Who sells the finished film, and where it lands, are questions that come later in the process.

For now, the news is the cast and the crew. A shoot in Mumbai puts the production in the city where much of Indian cinema is made, with local crews and locations close at hand.

Batra directs, and the lineup of producers and partners is now set. Filming has started, and the film's path from set to screen has begun.